Spotify Adds Full "Concerts" Tab To All Artist Pages, Expanding Songkick Partnership

Spotify has added a Concerts tab to all artist pages. It’s part of a trend that’s seen Spotify, Pandora and YouTube add features that help artists communicate with and monetize their fans, while often adding value for the user. Apple Music has thus far failed to follow suit. ________________________________________ Spotify…

TIDAL Co-Owner Jason Aldean Will Keep New Release Off ALL Streaming Services For 1 Month

Country hitmaker Jason Aldean may be one of the 17 founding artist co-owners of TIDAL, but he will still keep his new album off ALL streaming music services for at least a month, Hypebot has learned. Aldean’s "They Don’t Know" will be released on Broken Bow on September 9th.

Why Hip-Hop, Dance Are Leaving Rock Behind In Streaming Era

In all the fuss surrounding the recent streaming exclusive deals being struck between artists and streaming services, rock music has been conspicuously absent. Here we look at why genres like R&B and Hip-Hop have fared better in this new music economy than their rock peers. ________________________ Guest post by Zach…

Spotify Paid Subs Up 9 Million In 6 Months, Working To Offer Artists "A Full-stack Solution"

Spotify now has 39 million paying subscribers, up 9 million from 30 million in March. By comparison, Apple Music announced 15 million in June and TIDAL has about 4 million paying users. The new stats were shared by Spotify’s recent high profile hire Troy Carter who also shared the music…

The Coming Arms Race In Online Music: Artist Services [TIM QUIRK]

Digital music industry veteran Tim Quirk examines the coming arms race in the music industry, with online music services competing to offer artists programs and features which enable them to generate revenue beyond just streaming royalties. ______________________ Guest post by Tim Quirk, founder and CEO of Freeform There’s a development…

Pandora Takeover Gives The Gucci Bump

In a recent ‘takeover,’ designed to spark listener interest, Gucci Mane took over the popular Atlanta hip-hop station The ATL, resulting in an appreciable bump in the artist’s popularity. _____________________________ Guest Post by Glenn Peoples of Pandora The key takeaway: Gucci Mane’s “takeover” campaign at Pandora’s The ATL station led…

Pandora Names Questlove Strategic Advisor, First Artist Ambassador

Questlove is getting creative with Pandora. Change happens slowly at the music streamer, particularly when its comes to its consumer offering. But teaming with the Roots drummer may hint at a new Pandora as it preps the launch of its own Spotify and Apple Music competitor as early as next…

Frank Ocean Just Proved: Direct To Fan Works, Labels Mean Less Than They Think, Exclusives Suck But Still Matter

Frank Ocean has just shaken up the music industry, probably forever. His dual exclusive releases via Apple on Friday and Saturday ignited a long overdue debate about exclusive streaming releases; and hidden in the details are lessons that should be sending shockwaves through the executive suites at Universal, Sony and…

In Japan, Music Business Changes Very Slowly

A recent look at some overseas music industry numbers in Japan has revealed streaming’s continued growth, and that physical sales, while still dropping, are slower to decline there. Additionally, and unlike the US, ringtones continue to take up an appreciable share of the market there as well. _______________________________ Guest post…

What In The World Happened At CÜR?

In this recent piece, Cortney Harding investigates what happened to CÜR, a music startup designed to offer streaming and internet radio at a lower rate than its competitors, but which seems to have gone the way of so many startups and spent itself into an early grave. ________________________________ Guest post…